Control of tetrahedron satellite formation flying in the geosynchronous orbit using solar radiation pressure

Formation flying reconfiguration manoeuvres via environmental forces in highly elliptical orbits

“…In (Parsay & Schaub, 2017) and (Parsay et al, 2018) the use of solar sail is investigated with the purpose of precessing the orbit apse lines of satellite in formation flying on an Earth-centered orbit, in a Sun-synchronous way. In (Hou et al, 2016) it is demonstrated that the control of tetrahedron satellite formation flying in a geosynchronous orbit using SRP is feasible, both for formation maintenance and for formation reconfiguration, whereas in (Mashtakov et al, 2018) the possibility of simultaneously controlling both the relative motion and the attitude of satellites in formation flying via SRP is investigated, through solar sails made of a material that is able to change its optical properties. (Williams & Wang, 2002) examines the proper use of a solar wing in order to maintain a desired formation.…”

Ionospheric Drag for Satellite Formation Control

“…Other propellantless forces such as solar radiation pressure [10][11][12], Coulomb forces [13], and the Lorentz force [14] have all been investigated for actuating satellite formation maneuvers in an attempt to achieve long-term actuation capability. An additional propellantless mechanism for generating force arises from the exchange of momentum between a charged space object and the ions and electrons of the ionosphere, which is called ionospheric drag [15].…”

Automated Orbital Transfer and Hovering Control Using Artificial Potential

“…An extension to elliptic Keplerian orbits is the Lawden or TH equations, yet still assuming no orbital perturbations [9,10]. Other mentionable approaches for modeling relative motion are orbit element differences [11,12].…”